Questions & Answers with Worship Leaders

We asked Worship Leaders around the country the same question to see what their take was, below is the question and their response:

What do you think is something that our current worship & arts departments are missing or lacking in our worship services?

“Well that's a very good and deep question, to be honest most are lacking the sincerity and REAL love for God!! A lot of people turn up Friday and Saturday nights and try to lead the congregation into worship and it doesn't work like that. Real worshipers know the difference!!”Casey Pringle of Casey&Erica Recording Artist/Worship PastorOakland, CA

“Including a song or two that people are familiar with so they can sing along! It seems our worship sets have become a concert! People sit and listen but do not participate. Also using songs that mean something, have a message. Not just the current "happening" song. Sing songs of deliverance, freedom, the blood, the name, the word.., Songs that change lives and lift up Jesus! Not just a slot filler. I also think ALL church staff, from Pastor down, should join in the worship! What if the music director decided to walked out during the preaching?Also, every church has a different audience and different parts of the country like different types of music. If you have more seniors, they aren't going to like all Hillsong. If you have more young they won't like all Hymns, etc. If you're in the South they dig Southern Gospel, CA barely knows what that is.. I think variety is SO important. Try something. If it works, great. If it doesn't, don't do it again...”Karen Harding - Evangelist/Songwriter/Recording ArtistNashville, TN

“A genuineness of the Spirit, Allowing God to move as he pleases regardless of repertoire. We as Worship Leaders at fault as much as preachers of "pushing buttons" to create a response, therefore, we tend to want to 'manufacture' a move of God instead of following the lead of the Spirit.”Pastor Betsy Ruvalcaba, Worship Leader/HOW Steering Committee,Stockton, CA

“A couple that come to mind - one spiritual and one logistic: True worship. Seems like we're often trying to achieve a certain watermark with our song selection, transitions, and builds. Whether we're trying to get people on their knees or break it wide open, I think agendas overtake true worship. A truly worshipful service is selfless and sincere, allowing God to be in full control. Transitions, builds, atmosphere changes, etc., will come naturally and with way more potency when God is allowed to direct. Secondly, flow. I think, aside from the lack of spiritual flow (above), logistically, a lot of our sessions are kinda awkward. Some are very awkward. Presentation is important. I notice when we struggle flowing/transitioning between songs or segments, we "drop" the audience and usually have to virtually start over. But again, I think that all goes back to my first point.”Justin Hogue, Music Pastor/Recording Artist,San Francisco, CA

“The main thing in my opinion is most of today's songs are not in keys everyone can sing in... It's either too high for men or too low for women.... So it discourages singing along....

When I was a child we had a song LEADER! That encouraged the congregation to sing. Now we have worship team which encourages listening... Enjoying it, but just listening.... To sum it up we lack participation (everyone singing) from the whole congregation....”Madonna Massey Worship Leader/Pastor's Wife/Recording Artist, Lake Charles, LA